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Thursday, 19 July 2012

Slabdragger/Meadows Split 12inch (Review)

By: Aaron Pickford

Album Type:
12” Split

Date Released:
01/05/2013

Label:
Head of Crom

SLABDRAGGER/MEADOWS
Split 12 LP/DD track listing

A1).
Alchemistress (10:10) - Slabdragger

A2).
Burden (7:42) - Slabdragger

B1).
Superscammell (3:44) - Meadows

B2).
Baling Twine (2:00) - Meadows

B3).
Howell of the Wind (6:38) - Meadows

B4).
Loaded to the Gunwales (4:43) - Meadows

SLABDRAGGER
is

Sam
Thredder | Guitar, vocals

Yusuf
Tary | Bass, vocals

Nicolas
Soteri | Drums

MEADOWS
is

George
Newnham | Bass, vocals

Charlie
Kilshaw | Guitar, vocals

Chris
Moore | Guitar, vocals

Jack
Newnham | Drums, vocals

The Review:

To
say I was looking forward to this release would be an understatement to say the
very least. Slabdragger produced one of the finest debut albums
of recent years in 2011 and following on from that, alongside much touted band,
Meadows,
Head of Crom have brought two bands together and by doing so they have produced
one of the finest releases of the year so far. So, what is all the fuss
about? In my pursuit to be the next
greatest guitar player in my late teens, early twenties it was my wish to have
the sickest and ugliest guitar sound on Tyneside (that's Whitley Bay, North
East England) to be precise. I was checking out the local guitar shops
and asked the dude serving, what was the best distortion pedal (must have
been late 90's). He then produces a DOD death metal pedal, to me it
sounded absolutely amazing, so I promptly bought it, £90 later I get it
home. Instead of the usual level, low, mid, high tones on the pedal,
instead this pedal had R.I.P, GUTS, PAIN and SCREAM.

Well
you can imagine my delight at this, and I could basically sum up the Slabdragger side
of the split, by saying that it is sound incorporates all of those things, gut
spewing filthy painful screams of Doom. Slabdragger have produced a monumental slab of
doom encrusted heaviness which just reeks of putrefaction and with that in
mind, I felt that I was listening to the sound of ‘Heartwork‘ era Carcassin terms of guitar
tone. Hell it could be Bill Steer and Michael Amott playing on this
record, such is the ferocity of these two new offerings by Slabdragger.

Alcehmistress is a
ten minute tyrannous bile inducing slice of oppressive doom, which is
spectacularly abrasive and brutal. Appearing to be influenced by
early and late Cathedral, with that Ethereal
Mirror roughness to the guitar sound, coupled with the latter day
psychedelia of the vocals. They almost struggle to be heard over the seismic
and colossal riffs that are on display, coming across like Warhorse
from their legendary 2001 record As
Heaven Turns to Ash. Slabdragger display some of the grooviest,
most memorable doom riffs ever to crawl forth from the furthest
reaches of the underworld. Spliced with intervals of wah at times, Slabdragger
have taken their original sound and added more crunch to the guitar, more fuzz
to the bass and with Nicolas Satori on drums, he vigorously
pounds his kit into dust. Alchemistress is
one truly monumental track and left me awestruck in wonderment at how
outrageously awesome this track truly is and this is only the first of their
double header.

Burden is set up
with the shrill of feedback from the previous track and having picked your jaw
from the floor, having been bitch slapped by the Alcehmistress. Slabdragger turn the thumbscrew once more,
with another stupefying dish of doom. The guitars are equally colossal, yet
somehow more sludgey than the previous track, exemplified by the slow and
labouring Pachyderm pace of the track, it just sounds huge, with the buzzing
din of the guitars and bass resonating like the sound of
Leatherface's chainsaw, searching for its prey. There is a double
whammy vocal approach to Burden
with Sam and Yusuf spitting fury from the power of the written word.
They appear vehement and pissed off on the track and yet there is also subtlety
present too, mixing up the anger with emotion, with a more clean approach to
the vocals too. Again Satori is equal to the fury of the guitars, bass
and vocals, his performance reminding me of Greg Rogers on the first Goatsnake record.

The
surprise of the track is the last third when Slabdragger take on
a turn of pace, harking back to a more hardcore sound, including a
great solo break and yet it continues to have that crushing
doom sound. Slabdragger left me
feeling battered, beaten and broken boned. Overall their peers
need to take note, because on this performance Slabdragger are a force to be
reckoned with. What's more if these songs sound half as good on stage
as they do on this record, then I wish their peers good luck, because based on
this performance Slabdragger are going to take some
beating.

Meadows
who incidentally were earmarked as one's to watch in our recent South
East Sludge feature are a band that seems to be on the cusp of great
things. The four tracks on the flip side of this wax are an entirely
different proposition, and their barrage of counterpunches to Slabdragger
are four doses of filthy bilious crust. Superscammel
is raw and a rather unpleasant superfast ass kicking, with awesomely powerful
and bombastic riffs, reminding me of the anger and fury of early and much
missed Corby sludgers Raging Speedhorn. Meadows' agenda is one of
destruction and carnage, unadulterated and unrelenting riff
abuse, coupled with the raw and aggressive battery of the
drums. Around the 1:00 mark, Meadows bring the sludge with
slow crippling riffs, simple yet, brilliantly caustic, not to mention the
demented vocal performance. Baling Twineis equally brutal with a fast paced
flurry of scything riffs and abuse from what appears to be the whole band,
spitting venom and fury. 2mins of searing, contemptuous hate

At
6:38, Howell of the Wind is
the longest track Meadows offer on this split and this is where
they explore the full range of their sound and influences, incorporating equal
doses of crust, sludge, stoner and doom throughout. Indeed, this track
specifically highlights what an exciting proposition this band are and can
be over the course of the next few years. Meadows have depth to their
sound and dare I say, maturity, these guys are more than a one trick pony and Howell of the Wind
is exemplary. The old saying, save the best till last,
couldn't be more appropriate for the final track Loaded to the Gunwales, which is
a just a monstrosity of heaviness, think Mastodon at their heaviest and cross that with
Yob
and you're getting close. Man, I am writing this off the cuff
and I am at pains to describe how amazing this track really is, too
say that it is some of the heaviest shit you'll hear all year is an
understatement. The track is like a slow wrecking ball of destruction
that just about smashes you into dust. Absolutely brilliant.

Walk
over broken glass, hot coals, do whatever you need to do (legal of
course). Make sure you buy this record. You won't be
disappointed. Don't delay because this bad boy it is
limited to 300 copies only!! This is truly an essential
purchase.

Band Submissions

To those bands who have recently issued their first demo or album via bandcamp and would like to be featured on our 666 Pack Review or considered for a full review or stream please contact Aaron via email including your EPK, band bio, album file or download code, including artwork.

To those bands issuing their sophomore record and so on and would like to be considered for a review or stream on the blog. Get in touch using the same address above

We will consider bands from any genre but exclusively stoner, sludge, doom, psych, post-metal, experimental, black-metal etc. (Whilst I would like to respond to every email, this is not always possible.) Thanks